


If You Insist

by ranchoff



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Las Vegas Wedding, Marriage Proposal, Romance, SO FLUFFY, Wedding Fluff, Weddings, so extremely fluffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-17
Updated: 2018-02-17
Packaged: 2019-03-20 05:49:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13711176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ranchoff/pseuds/ranchoff
Summary: A year after the battle of Amaranthine, an overworked Alistair and Warden-Commander Lariel Tabris find a rare day of peace and free time. Perfect day for a proposal, right? And why not a wedding while they're at it?Be warned: fluff overload





	1. A Crumb-y Proposal

A deep, contented sigh, and a long-overdue moment of peace. His arm, wrapped around her shoulder, pulled her in closer to him as she nuzzled her head affectionately against his chest.

Time alone together like this was painfully rare. Rebuilding the Grey Wardens was exhausting work that gave them hardly any free time and often separated them. They had learned to use every spare moment to its fullest advantage, but days like this - where they had no obligations, nothing to do but relax together alone - were now so sparse they seemed too good to be true. He had just returned from a particularly long absence, a simple recruiting mission that hit dozens of snags and dragged on three times longer than it should have; and it wasn’t the first time that something like this had happened. It sometimes felt impossible to have even a brief moment of privacy or respite from the apparently endless frustration hanging over both of them.

But this moment, right now, was perfect.

They were at Amaranthine, overseeing reconstruction efforts in the city after the darkspawn invasion the year before, but their work there had been finished for now, and so they would be returning to Vigil’s Keep tomorrow. Earlier that day, as the two of them savored a blessed lazy morning in bed, he suggested they go for a walk to take in some of the coastal scenery before they left. They eventually found their way out onto a hill just outside the city, where the sunny morning gave way to a windy and misty afternoon. The shift in weather seemed to stress him out for some reason, but she didn’t mind. The two of them nestled themselves together under his cloak, pulled tight around them to block out the chilly breeze. Time rolled by, neither of them daring to move, as if any change in position would disrupt the precious comfort they had managed to find. They both munched at some cookies they had bought from a vendor in town, savoring the rich and sweet treat. Bits of cookie crumbled from both their hands. They watched foamy waves ebb back and forth, occasionally crashing onto the dark rocks lining the shore. Her eyelids grew heavy as she was lulled by the white noise of the sea, the cozy warmth of his body surrounding her, the steady tempo of his heart beating against her ear.

The fuzzy haze was broken when she felt his other arm shifting around in his pocket, fidgeting with something. “Alistair?” she asked in a low hum. “What have you got there?”

He sighed tiredly and was silent for a few moments, then finally took another deep breath to respond. “Alright, listen, I- I was hoping it would be more...nevermind, let me start over.” He shifted his arm so that she was turned to face him, but was still covered under the protection of his cloak. He had a look on his face that was familiar to her - his brows contorted, his eyes focused, his expression generally giving off the impression that he was steeling himself up to say something very important. She had first seen this look a lifetime ago, when he approached her at camp with a rose twirling nervously between his fingers.

He exhaled with a tense chuckle before continuing. “Maker, I should have done this a long time ago. Lariel, you are my entire world. You appeared out of nowhere, and somehow you wandered into my life at a time when I needed a friend more than I ever had before. You are the best friend that I’ve ever had. I never thought it was possible to feel so complete until I met you. If I let myself start talking about all the reasons I love you we’d be here the entire night, but, Lariel - I love you, more than I can ever tell you. I know that our lives will probably be short, and that we probably can't have any children, but there is no other woman that I would rather spend my life with. However long or short that life may be. I was trying to wait for exactly the right time to do this, but I just don’t want to wait a second longer. Lariel,” he held tightly to her hand, “would you marry me?”

The word “me” had barely escaped his lips before hers were pressed upon them. He returned her kisses ardently, pulling her toward him so closely and tightly that he lost his balance and fell backward. They both laughed as they caught themselves and sat up, pulling his warm cloak around them again. “So….was that a yes or a no?” he snickered.

She sighed contentedly, her cheeks burning from the smile that had crept onto her face. “Yes,” she answered, catching her breath. “Yes, Alistair, of course I will.”

“Oh, good,” he replied. “Because I already got you this, so….a ‘no’ would have been awkward.”

He pulled the cloak open slightly to reveal something in his hands. It was a simple, stunning, silver ring with a small blue gemstone laid into it, which he gently slid on to her finger. He took hold of her hand and brought it up to his face, placing several long kisses in a row onto the back of it. “I love you,” he murmured against her skin.

“I love you, too,” 

Alistair let go of her hand and wrapped his arms around her, taking care not to fall back again as he pulled her close against him and laid yet more kisses on the top of her head, then all over her face, and finally her lips.

After a few minutes, he sighed to himself. “So, I hate to kill the mood, but….when should we do this? I have to leave again in a few weeks, and who knows when we’ll have a free day like this again after I get back...” his voice trailed off. The blissful perfection they lived in a mere minute earlier was already melting away in the harsh light of reality.

“I know,” she agreed quietly. “I want to be your wife now.”

“‘My wife’,” he repeated to himself almost inaudibly. “Maker, I love the way that sounds.”

“Then….what if we don’t wait? Let’s do it. Let’s get married right now. Today. We don’t know when we’ll get another day like today, and even if we did I don’t want to wait anyway. I don’t care about having a wedding, I just want to be married to you. I’ve wanted to for so long.”

His expression was blank for several seconds, and Lariel began to worry that her eagerness had overwhelmed him. An instant later, however, a grin spread across his face and he nodded. “I feel exactly the same way.”


	2. Panic and Promises

They split up when they arrived back in the city, with a plan to gather everything they needed and meet at the chantry afterward. So an hour and a half later, Lariel approached with purposeful breaths, smoothing out the front of the pale green dress she found herself in. It wasn’t exactly a normal wedding dress, but it was pretty and it fit her well and she had limited time, so it was hers. In her right hand she grasped a small bunch of fragrant pink flowers plucked from a bush by the main city gate, a simple silver ring that she bought from a blacksmith, and a crumpled piece of parchment. Her hair was released, for once, from its tight and practical bun she normally kept it in, and fell in loose messy waves around her shoulders. She continued to pull nervously at the dress, feeling self-conscious and almost naked; it had been so long since she had worn anything but armor. She couldn’t remember for certain if Alistair had even seen her in a dress before. 

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and ascended the stairs to the chantry’s courtyard carefully, lifting up her skirt so she wouldn’t slip on it. As she approached the top steps, she saw Alistair a few feet away with his back to her, talking with a disoriented-looking Nathaniel and an amused-looking Oghren. Her eyebrow twitched up automatically at the sight of Oghren, but a quiet snicker slipped out of her a moment later. At least he found witnesses, she thought. Nathaniel noticed her approach and muttered something to Alistair, who turned his head and instantly let out a deep sigh. “Maker’s breath,” he breathed. “You...oh, Lariel, you are so beautiful.”

Her blushing smile in response was interrupted by a loud chuckle from Oghren’s direction. “Heh heh, looking goooood, boss,” he added with an approving thumbs up.

“Thank you, Oghren,” she replied quickly, knowing how his compliments usually progressed and (vainly) hoping to prevent it.

“You look nice, Commander,” Nathaniel added a little stiffly and awkwardly, but with a genuine smile.

Alistair took hold of her hand. “I’ve got everything I need, do you?” She nodded. “Are you ready to do this?” he asked, his voice shaking with excitement.

“I’ve never been more ready for anything.”

They entered the chantry together with Oghren and Nathaniel following. “Heh….looking real good, boss,” Oghren’s voice oozed from behind them. Lariel shook her head with a grimace but ignored it as she had learned to do a long time ago, but Alistair groaned and stopped for a moment. “Alright, I guess I have to make a rule here: no being creepy to the bride, or you can't be at the wedding.”

“Mmmm, alright, that’s fair.”

Lariel smirked as they continued walking, and raised an eyebrow. “Sorry,” Alistair whispered, as if reading her mind. “He was the first person I found, and then I ran into Nathaniel on our way here, but then Oghren was so excited to be invited-”  
“You're forgiven,” Lariel chuckled. She was too excited to care.

The chantry was still recovering from the darkspawn invasion the year before. Portions of walls were being rebuilt, and rays of late afternoon sunlight shone through the cracks. People milled around inside, either unaware or apathetic of the scene occurring beside them, and the low hum of many voices at once hung in the air. The laborers repairing the building created a loud and unsteady rhythm. They weaved their way through to the Revered Mother’s office in the back, where they found her seated at her desk. She glanced up and nodded with recognition before returning to her work. “Good afternoon, Grey Wardens. Is there something I can do for you?”

“Yes, actually,” Alistair answered. “We were hoping that you could marry us. Right now, if possible.”

A few minutes later - after a few confirmations that yes, they were serious - Lariel and Alistair stood face to face in the chantry’s small garden, with the Revered Mother next to them holding the Chant of Light, and their two witnesses seated on a nearby bench. “Today,” she said softly, “we gather here, in the eyes of the Maker to join this man and woman in holy matrimony...” She continued to speak the vows and read from the Chant, but Lariel found her ability to hear the words fading away. This moment felt unreal in the best possible way; she gazed intently at Alistair with a completely new thrill buzzing within her, somehow wanting to savor this moment and to see the other side of it all at once. Their hands were joined, and she could feel his excitement coursing through her as his thumb gently stroked her hand. Lariel suddenly became aware of the Mother saying the words “vows” and “rings”, and came back to herself. She looked around for a place to set down the flowers that had now practically gone limp from her grasping them so tightly, but gave up a moment later and simply let them fall to the ground so she could unfold the piece of parchment crumpled in her palm, in case she needed to glance down and remind herself of what she had written (she wouldn’t).

“Alistair,” she started with regulated breathing, knowing that she could only at best delay - not prevent - herself from choking up. “I don’t know how to explain in words how much I love you, so I promise to demonstrate it to you every day for the rest of my life. You have become my entire world, and each day that I spend with you is a blessing that I feel completely unworthy of. You are the greatest friend that I have ever had, and I don't know where I would be if I had never met you.” She noticed tears beginning to form in his eyes, which sent her over the edge and made her voice crack as she spoke the next words. “I promise to make the most of however much time we have together, and that I will never take for granted how lucky I am to be yours.” She wiped away the tears on her cheeks but they replenished themselves instantly - then gently took Alistair’s left hand, and slid onto it the plain silver band she had found for him less than an hour before.

“Well, I didn’t know we were supposed to write our speeches down,” he remarked quickly in a teasing voice, and the movement of her gentle laughter caused the tears on her cheeks to spill down the rest of her face and roll off her chin. “But, Lariel,” he continued in a shaking, concentrated voice, crying freely now too, “you are absolutely everything to me. I never could have hoped to find myself here, but - well, here I am, and I cannot think of anywhere else I would rather be. We sort of...found each other in stolen moments in between fighting and working and traveling, and now here we are getting married the same way, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. You are my best friend and the most...remarkable woman I have ever met, and I swear that I will do my best to be worthy of your love. I promise that I will try to fill every single one of your days with joy, even - no, especially - when things are bleak, and I promise that I will love you until the day I die.” He took her left hand and the tearful look of love on his face was momentarily replaced with one of utter panic when he saw the ring still on her finger from earlier. “I-oh,” he muttered to himself. “I forgot to-I don’t have another…” He exhaled, then carefully pulled the ring off of her finger, waited for a beat, and slid it back on. Lariel laughed again and a powerful warmth radiated through her chest, feeling more certain than ever of her decision to marry this wonderful man.

The Revered Mother read a few more verses from the Chant of Light, and asked each of them in turn if they would take each other as husband and wife which they both answered “yes” to with shaking voices. Lariel’s heart pounded in anticipation until the blessed moment finally arrived.

“In Andraste’s name,” the Mother spoke agonizingly slowly, “I pronounce the two of you to be husband and wife.”

She had scarcely finished her sentence before Lariel and Alistair took hold of each other and kissed fervently, his arms wrapped completely around her and squeezing tightly - almost too tightly, if she was honest, but for the moment it was absolutely perfect. Enthusiastic claps came from their two witnesses and they finally released each other, both their faces red and wet from the mingling of their joyful tears.


	3. If You Insist

The Crown and Lion hummed with the most activity it had seen it months. The small wedding party gathered in a corner table, and Oghren loudly proclaimed to every person who walked in that “these two just got hitched, how about a round of drinks”. He undoubtedly just wanted an excuse to drink more, but his red eyes and the sticky wet tears in his beard suggested that at least part of his intentions were genuine. Some fellow Grey Wardens had heard the news and wandered in to sit down and celebrate. Even Nathaniel, who so far had just been politely congratulating them and looking a little out of place, began to laugh and join in with everyone’s fun once he had a few drinks in him. 

Lariel leaned back against her husband’s chest, his arm around her shoulder and his head resting on top of hers, both feeling supremely at ease. She didn’t know if it was the buzz from the whiskey, or the thrill of finally being married, but his hands stroked her affectionately in a way that he generally refrained from in public. She returned the gesture with warm nuzzling of her head against him. They had taken out a room in the inn for the night as a special change from their Warden base camp just outside the city, and she rapidly grew anxious for their well-meaning guests to leave so they could celebrate in private.

The energy level gradually ebbed as their friends grew tired and drunk and trickled out of the pub.

Alistair nudged his arm to the side, rousing Lariel to look up at him with intoxicated eyes. He kissed her mouth, then her forehead, with a tenderness that was almost too sweet to stand. “My wife is so beautiful,” he breathed, more as an astounded remark to himself than as a compliment to her.

She wrapped an arm around his neck and pulled his face down to her, laying several long, passionate kisses in a row on his lips. “Well...your wife would like to go to bed with you, now.”

He leapt into action instantly, scooting sideways and standing so quickly that Lariel couldn’t help but giggle. She began to stand up herself, but was interrupted in a wholly unexpected way. He bent down and placed his arms under each side of her, lifting her up into the air with surprising ease; she laughed drunkenly and grabbed onto his shoulders for support.

“If you insist,” he answered.


End file.
